[poonizzle]

Hi long time since i posted in here. I have had my Maximus for about 2 years now and hes been fine, however recently i have noticed that he isn't his usual bright eyed self. It seems as if hes tired constantly, he sleeps all day (I know they're nocturnal) but then he will sleep most of the night too. In the evenings he sort of stands or lies around squinting at things.

Weird thing is he perks up straight away as soon as he hears the viv door open and I throw a couple of crickets in there. So he's eating fine and pooping fine. It's just very odd behaviour that he never used to do which is why it has me concerned.

[tryme]

it may just be him being a bit bored and lazy they do this from time to time you should handle him alot and he might start perking up scracthing at the glass to come out etc...

what are your temps like in warm end and cool end? what are you supplimenting the feeders with and when?

[poonizzle]

Took him to vets this afternoon after he puked up last nights dinner. She suspects worms and has given me some antibiotics to give him. Next poop he does I'm gona send it to them and get tested so I know for sure. I'm just glad that I noticed that he was a bit off.

[Casper]

Hi poonizzle,

I hope the little fella feels better soon, do you have any other reps that could have contaminated him or anything that could have caused some stress enabling them to multiply and cause a problem?

The only reason i ask is out of curiosity!
As you've had him two years it seems unusual for them to occur now and not before....mind you i guess you need the sample results before there is confirmation of worms!

I hope you don't mind me asking, i'm trying to learn as much as i can!

All the best,
Casp.

[poonizzle]

Hi Casper

nope I don't have any other reptiles or pets that could have contaminated him. From what I have read I think the way he contracted it was from them horrible nasty crickets. Apparently they cannabalise on each other and then when left in the viv eat his poop which makes the worms multiply.

Also with basic hygiene, I thoroughly clean the viv with disinfectant once a month but he has two cardboard toilet roll bits that he sits in and because I cant clean them properly they must have been horribly dirty and full of god knows what. This is all speculation at the moment, I don't know for sure what gave it to him, but on the bright side he his definitely looking more perky after a couple of days on the antibiotics. I'm sending off his poop to be checked today and have disinfected the viv again and threw away anything that couldn't be disinfected.

[Casper]

Hey,

That's fantastic news that he's feeling a tad better! It must be such a relief for you!

Thanks for the info regarding live foods... I've heard that steam cleaning is really good for killing nasties in the vivarium! might be worth a go for peace of mind!

I'm certainly going to invest in one!

All the best Poonizzle,
Keep me posted on how he gets on